RANGERS manager Steven Gerrard last night admitted he is considering recalling Croatian centre half Nikola Katic following his side’s 2-1 defeat to Kilmarnock in midweek.
Defenders Joe Worrall and Gareth McAuley were partly to blame for the goals the Ibrox club conceded in the Ladbrokes Premiership match at Rugby Park on Wednesday evening.
Many Rangers fans would like to see Katic, the 22-year-old who impressed after arriving in Scotland in the summer, given a run-out in Gerrard’s team.
The Liverpool and England great, whose team play Livingston on the artificial surface at the Tony Macaroni Stadium tomorrow, backed Worrall to recover from his mistake.
But Gerrard said: “I’m tempted to bring him (Katic) back. Niko came in at first and performed really consistently and really well. He is a player who was brought in for now and for the future.
“He had a couple of performances and certain situations happened which affected his confidence. It was my job to protect him and maybe take him out of the firing line at times.
“I did think he had a dip in his form and his confidence was affected. I do feel as though he’s over that now and he is pushing.
“I’ve got confidence in Niko that I could play him at the weekend and he could perform well and that performance could lead him on to a run in the team.
“If he doesn’t play at the weekend you could see him in the coming fixtures. I don’t want to have set players that I go ‘oh yeah they are 100 per cent in the team’.
“You have to keep the shirt. I think the performance after 20 minutes at Kilmarnock means players have left themselves open.”
Gerrard backed Worrall, the Nottingham Forest loanee who gifted Eamonn Brophy the ball before the first goal, to recover from his error and stressed the former England Under-21 player retained his complete confidence.
“Joe will be looking for some faith from me and his team-mates," he said. "He has bailed us out on numerous occasions to deserve that faith.
“He is man enough and has been around long enough, even though he’s still young, to know he is going to make mistakes. I don’t think he is an insecure boy, where that mistake might affect him long term.
“The positive thing for me is he held his hand up and has taken it on his shoulders."
Meanwhile, Gerrard confirmed Rangers had received a work permit for American midfielder Matt Polster, who impressed during a trial at the Hummel Training Centre last month, yesterday morning.
“There’s a bit of paperwork to sort in the coming days, but that is on the horizon,” he said. “I think he’d be ready to go, but there’s no doubt he could improve his fitness levels.”
Gerrard also stressed he is keen for Wes Foderingham to remain at Ibrox even though he has signed Liverpool goalkeeper Andy Firth on an 18 month deal after Robbie McCrorie has moved to Morton on loan along with Andy Dallas.
“We’ve brought Andy Firth in just for cover,” he said. “I want Wes to stay here for the remainder of the season.
“I understand the situation, he’s desperate to be a No.1. I don’t want to say Wes is 100 per cent staying because I don’t know what the next few days will bring.
“I want to keep him, I want him to push Allan (mCGregor) to play. Of course we all know things can change.”
Gerrard, who has Borna Barisic available for the Livingston game, admitted that Jordan Rossiter and some other fringe players could leave on loan before the transfer window closes on Thursday.
"He’s in touch with his reps about finding the right club to go to," he said.
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